Can small-scale agricultural production improve children's health? Examining stunting vulnerability among very young children in Mali, West Africa

Stunting affects an individual’s educational and wage-earning potential and can even affect the next generation of children. Most research of childhood stunting focuses on the determinants and correlates that lead to stunting—through nutritional or early infant experiences, with one potential solution to stunting being an increased supply of locally produced food. This research examines the interplay of community-level cropped area as a factor relating to childhood stunting. We use the most recently collected Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data for Mali, very high resolution remotely sensed imagery, and other remotely sensed data relating to geophysical characteristics to examine the impact of local cultivation on children’s health. We focus on evaluating the environmental, community, household, and individual characteristics of the children who report healthy anthropometrics despite the presence of specific stunting risk factors. In adopting this approach to studies of children’s health we can shed light on how small-scale agricultural production impacts childhood stunting among at-risk children.